Hanhart x Gentry Labs: Pilot’s Chrono Red Lion Mk II
„What if the legendary ‚417 ES‘, originally created for German Air Force pilots, had received a successor with enhanced capabilities?“ Hanhart provided the answer to this hypothetical question in the form of the „Red Lion Mk II“, limited to 200 units.
This collaboration is a joint effort with TGV, the founder of the YouTube channel "The Urban Gentry" and the design studio Gentry Labs. The latter isn't a traditional design studio in the sense of architecture or graphic design, but rather a concept studio that collaborates on watch partnerships. Now, they've teamed up with Hanhart.
Hanhart x Gentry Labs
The aim of the collaboration with Gentry Labs was to create a vision of what a further development of the historic pilot's chronograph "417 ES" from 1954 would have looked like – with a stronger focus on functionality, clearer contrasts, optimized readability and a more technical, yet period-typical design language.
The result is the hand-wound chronograph, which takes up and further develops the functional DNA of the historic „417 ES“ from the German brand Hanhart.
For example, the readability of the stop minute was significantly improved with the so-called „Big Eye“ at 3 o’clock and a small minute stop hand with Superluminova C1 X2 and a red pointer tip.
The hour, minute and second hands from the center, as well as the numerals, are also coated with Superluminova.
And the double-sided 12-hour stainless steel bezel with precise 24-click ratcheting allows for easy and quick setting of a second time zone – also known as „GMT-light“ – without affecting the functionality and readability of the watch.
The bezel is rotated according to the time difference, allowing the time in another location to be read directly on the scale. This solution offers the functionality of a classic GMT watch in a particularly intuitive form.
Historical heritage, interpreted in a modern way
The „Red Lion Mk II“ carries on the legacy of the historic „417 ES“, but translates it into a more modern, technical design language. The 39-millimeter stainless steel case, water-resistant to 10 bar, combines brushed and polished surfaces and is covered by a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides.
The screw-down case back bears a unique serial number and, through a sapphire crystal display back, showcases the column-wheel flyback chronograph movement. The inside of the display back is discreetly printed with the "Gentry Labs Watermark." The logo signifies the collaboration without obstructing the view of the movement.
The AMT5100 M hand-wound movement with flyback
Inside the "Red Lion Mk II" beats the hand-wound AMT5100 M movement from Sellita's Manufacture AMT division. This column-wheel caliber with flyback function, date, small seconds, 30-minute counter, and central stop-seconds offers a 58-hour power reserve. The movement beats at 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour), is shockproof, and is meticulously regulated by Hanhart to an accuracy of 0 to +8 seconds per day.
The red button – a symbol with history
Like other Hanhart pilot's chronographs, the "Red Lion Mk II" is also equipped with the distinctive red pusher made of hybrid ceramic. Legend has it that a pilot's lover once painted the chronograph pusher red so that he would always think of her on missions and return safely.
Historically, however, the red color served a practical purpose: it was intended to protect pilots from unintentionally resetting the stop time – particularly important for watches with a flyback function, which allow for an immediate restart of the time measurement with just one press of a button.
(RRP €2,790 (FKM rubber strap) or €2,990 (stainless steel strap))
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